Getting onto or off of a small boat can be dangerous since small boats are prone to tilting or even flipping over when a user moves about the boat. When a boat tilts a person on the boat is likely to lose balance and fall. To address this problem many boats include substantially horizontal rails that are rigidly fixed to the hull of the boat. However, in may instance such rails are raised only a short distance above the hull and do not provide support to standing, upright persons. Often, these rails do not extend higher since doing so would create a horizontal barrier over which a person attempting to enter or exit the boat may not be able to overcome.